When Nina Bains got started in filmmaking more than a decade ago, there were very few opportunities.
“It was very difficult to get started,” she said. “I let it go for a few years, then went back, and let it go and went back. If there were more opportunities, maybe life would have taken a different path.”
Now the organizer for the first-ever boxcART Film Festival, Bains wants to give artists the opportunity she never had.
Until Friday night, Ottawa filmmakers can submit their work for screening in the Sept. 20 festival. The festival, “simply a venue to show your work,” also has simple rules.
“If you’re an artist and have good filmmaking skills, we will show your film,” she said.
It also offers something valuable – support and feedback from peers in the community.
The invitation to submit films is only open to Ottawans, Bains said.
“We didn’t want to include Montreal and Toronto,” she said. “We wanted to put Ottawa on the map. We find a lot of filmmakers head out to bigger cities, because there are more opportunities. We want to have people showing their films at home.
“This allows people to create work and express themselves in an unbiased environment,” Bains said.
The festival will also feature films by the five finalists in the recent 72-Hour Film Festival, where participants were challenged to create a short film based on a surprise topic.
Bains said she was awed by the entries.
“I could not believe Ottawa had so much talent,” she said.
Work can be submitted before 11:59 p.m. Friday at info@boxcartfilmfestival.ca.
